Comcast Service Plan Target of Class Action Lawsuit

Comcast of Missouri LLC is facing a class action lawsuit over alleged fraud in its Comcast Service Plan.

Since at least August 2011, Comcast has sold service plans to customers who were told the wiring inside their homes was covered by the plan.

The Comcast service plan class action lawsuit, filed by lead plaintiff Kristi Landers, alleges that no such repairs were covered.

“In selling its services to named plaintiff and class plaintiffs, Comcast engaged in deception in that Comcast charged named plaintiff and class plaintiffs a fee for a service plan to cover repairs on wiring inside the home of the customer that did not, in fact, cover repairs for all wiring inside the home of the customer,” the lawsuit claims.

Washington State Attorney General Challenges Comcast Service Plan

The Missouri lawsuit comes on the heels of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s move to seek more than $100 million from Comcast to compensate for a variety of alleged deceitful moves the company has made on more than a million customers.

Ferguson’s complaint alleges Comcast committed 1.8 million violations of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act by deceptively marketing its protection plan, charging improper service fees and putting customers through undue credit checks.

Missouri’s Comcast Service Plan Full of Exclusions

For $4.99 a month, customers could purchase the Comcast Service Plan that was marketed as a way for customers to avoid having to pay for service calls.

The Comcast Service Plan included the following coverage as stated in an  online description published from January 2011 through mid-June 2016:

• Unlimited covered service calls with no contracts.
• Troubleshooting and diagnosis of XFINITY TV, XFINITY Voice, XFINITY Internet and XFINITY Home service problems.
• Hassle-free replacement and repair of defective customer inside wiring.
• Hassle-free replacement and repair of cable jumpers, cable connectors, splitters and phone jacks due to normal wear and tear.
• Service calls due to customer education or customer owned equipment connected to your XFINITY services.
• Confidence that if there is a problem with any XFINITY service, Comcast will take care of it without charging a service fee.

These coverages were detailed on the phone by Comcast sales representatives and in email communications as well.

A look at the fine print says that “inside wiring” is “wiring within the point just on your side of the terminating equipment or box located at or about twelve (12) inches outside of your unit or residence and extending to the individual phone jacks and cable and internet outlets and extensions in your home.”

The Comcast Service Plan is full of exclusions, though. Any wiring that is concealed within a wall is not covered. Any equipment that belongs to a customer such as a TV, DVD player, surround sound, etc. is not covered, but if it is determined that a customer’s own such equipment is the problem, the customer won’t be charged for that diagnosis.

Because Comcast’s Customer Guarantee covers repairs to Comcast hardware or related wiring outside of the home, these repairs are not covered by the Comcast Service Plan.

The lawsuit alleges that because of all the exclusions, the $4.99 monthly fee fails to cover any repairs.

Lead plaintiff Kristi also accuses Comcast of violating the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act by not making any wiring repairs in paying customers’ homes since August 2011.

The Comcast Service Plan Class Action Lawsuit is Kristi Landers et. al. v. Comcast of Missouri, Case No. 4:16-cv-01010, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.